Q&A: Bliss

Question: Please tell us about nirvikalpa samadhi.

Sri Chinmoy: I am trying my best to tell you about this from a very high consciousness, but still my mind is subtly expressing it. In nirvikalpa samadhi we have no mind. We see the Creator, the Creation and the Observer as one Person. There the object of adoration and the person who is adoring become totally one; the Lover and the Beloved become totally one. We go beyond everything, and at the same time we see that everything is real. Here in the ordinary world I will say you are unreal and you will say I am unreal because of our different opinions. But in nirvikalpa samadhi we go beyond all differences: there the mind does not function at all.

When we enter into nirvikalpa samadhi, the first thing we feel is that our heart is larger than the universe itself. Now we see the world around us, and the universe seems infinitely larger than we are. But this is because the world and the universe are now perceived by the limited mind. When we are in nirvikalpa samadhi, we see the universe like a tiny dot inside our vast heart.

In nirvikalpa samadhi there is infinite Bliss. There is nothing in comparison to the quantity, not to speak of the quality, of that Bliss. Bliss is a vague word to most of us. We hear that there is something called Bliss, and some people say they have experienced it, but most of us have no firsthand knowledge of it. When we enter into nirvikalpa samadhi, however, we not only feel Bliss, but we grow into that Bliss.